Don’t Use Banners on Scissorlifts, IPAF Warns

The International Powered Access Federation is urging organizers and exhibitors at events such as county or state fairs and local festivals not to attach banners to scissorlifts because this can create a “sail board” effect that could destabilize the lift and cause it to turn over.
May 11, 2016

The International Powered Access Federation is urging organizers and exhibitors at events such as county or state fairs and local festivals not to attach banners to scissorlifts because this can create a “sail board” effect that could destabilize the lift and cause it to turn over.

Scissorlifts are a safe way to perform temporary work at height when used properly by trained personnel, IPAF said. However, they are not designed to hold banners or advertisement boards. Some scissorlifts are designed for indoor use only at zero wind speed. However, scissorlifts designed for outdoor use may be at risk of being blown over in an elevated position when the maximum safe wind speed is exceeded.

“Scissorlifts are safe, but improper use of this equipment can make them very dangerous,” said Andy Studdert, IPAF president, and chairman and CEO of NES Rentals. “Don’t put your visitors at risk. A machine with a banner attached to it could get blown over even in modest winds. Aerial lifts are not toys for joy rides or hanging banners and displays.”

More details about IPAF’s safety initiatives, technical guidance and training programs are available at www.ipaf.org and www.ipaf.com.

About the Author

Michael Roth

Editor

Michael Roth has covered the equipment rental industry full time for RER since 1989 and has served as the magazine’s editor in chief since 1994. He has nearly 30 years experience as a professional journalist. Roth has visited hundreds of rental centers and industry manufacturers, written hundreds of feature stories for RER and thousands of news stories for the magazine and its electronic newsletter RER Reports. Roth has interviewed leading executives for most of the industry’s largest rental companies and manufacturers as well as hundreds of smaller independent companies. He has visited with and reported on rental companies and manufacturers in Europe, Central America and Asia as well as Mexico, Canada and the United States. Roth was co-founder of RER Reports, the industry’s first weekly newsletter, which began as a fax newsletter in 1996, and later became an online newsletter. Roth has spoken at conventions sponsored by the American Rental Association, Associated Equipment Distributors, California Rental Association and other industry events and has spoken before industry groups in several countries. He lives and works in Los Angeles when he’s not traveling to cover industry events.

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